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Topic: 6D weatherproofness, tested. (Read 30223 times)

I went out with my mates today on a rented boat. It was a crappy boat.We stopped by a beach and I had my 6d + 8-15 fisheye and was taking happy snaps in the sand, etc, thinking ... weatherproof=sandproof. All okay there.

Hours later, we hop on the boat and it starts raining, mediumishy. I take my camera out of my waterproof backpack and friends say, "nooo... it's raining! Your camera will break! I say, Bah! The body and lens is weatherproof! I'll be fine".

Several hours pass, I'm still fine.There's speckles of water on the fisheye lens pretty much everywhere, the camera has water also, everything is fine.

I would describe the amount of water on the camera .... "as if one had been hosed with water in a jovial manner while holding the camera". Something which I think, is not too much. It was definitely more water than I would expose my phone to, and certainly more than my laptop. But hey! This beast is weatherproof.

Then I take a video, and stop, and .. and .. omG! What happened to my Play button?! I press my play button and the liveview action gets invoked?... and .. AAAHH my right cursor button takes me to the menu?

Sigh.

In the end .... the buttons on the backplate are all confused with each other.

Now that I'm at home, I've lost the menu button, that does nothing, the AF select button will sometimes call the menu action, the right arrow calls the menu, the up arrow calls info. The left and bottom and set and info and Q still work. I haven't tested the others. I'm leaving my camera on a shelf (minus battery) for a day and then hoping it dries up and works again!

Otherwise, a visit to the friendly canon service man and hopefully they fix it under warranty. I've had it for less than a month. Maybe there was something wrong with its weather sealing when it was new.

NB: Once it got a bit sandy/rainy I didn't change the lens at all. NB2: The fisheye works fine.

My suggestion to other 6D-ers. If your camera is wet ... press as few buttons as possible.

*sigh, *goes and cancels next weekend's photoshoot.

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I wouldn't even take my 5d mkiii out in the rain, let alone a 6d. I'm pretty sure water damage isn't covered under warranty either?Also is the 8-15 fisheye fully weather sealed? Other lenses require a filter to complete the sealing, not sure about the 8-15 as it doesn't take filters?

But with water damage, DON'T turn it on, don't play with any buttons, once it shuts off or locks up, turn it off, battery out, put everything, including camera into an air tight container or zip lock bag covered with rice and leave it for a day or two to dry out and see if it works again.

When you next put an unknown quantity such as weatherproofing to the test, you need to consider whether you can afford to lose your camera, and the money it will cost to buy a replacement. It is the same whether you are on a paid job, or merely out for the fun of it (or showing off to friends!), and regardless of whether it is a 6D, 5D Mark III or 1DX.

Plus, there is always some risk where boats are concerned, but that is something else entirely.

I can tell you that in the past I have had problems with different cameras from the amount of sweat that comes off me and saturates the back of the camera. I have had all sorts of problems with the buttons on the back, but eventually (can be days or weeks) it returned to normal.

Otherwise, a visit to the friendly canon service man and hopefully they fix it under warranty. I've had it for less than a month. Maybe there was something wrong with its weather sealing when it was new.

Afaik warranty doesn't cover it because the "sealed" is more about small splashes than real rain or larger amounts of sand - unless you can proof Canon said otherwise in the specs, and they carefully don't. The only really sealed camera bodies are the 1d series, with everything else it's a gamble. Btw: Feel free to put a plastic bag around your camera next time, doesn't look pro but works ok.

For my semi-sealed 60d (and probably also the 6d) I feel safe shooting when it's snowing or in very light rain for short amounts of time, but that's about it. But from what I've read non-working buttons work again if it wasn't salt water and the camera was dried to avoid pcb corrosion.

The whole matter is rather confusing because nearly no reviewers risk or open a camera to test the proofing, and even if that wouldn't mean much because it's partly luck.

Afaik warranty doesn't cover it because the "sealed" is more about small splashes than real rain or larger amounts of sand ... The only really sealed camera bodies are the 1d series, with everything else it's a gamble.

For my semi-sealed 60d (and probably also the 6d) I feel safe shooting when it's snowing or in very light rain for short amounts of time, but that's about it. But from what I've read non-working buttons work again if it wasn't salt water and the camera was dried to avoid pcb corrosion....

Bummer about the "sealing". Then, maybe they and everyone else shouldn't say that they're "Sealed/weatherproof/weather resistant" at all. Maybe the only weather resistance is that one should resist taking it out on bad weather.

Thank's heaps about your opinion on malfunctioning buttons working if the camera is dried. That gives me a peace of mind. My camera is now enjoying a rice bowl. I'll give it two days before I try again. I'm going to need my rice back!

I have previously tried those wet-bags for DSLRs that I bought a shop called Ryda in Oz. Luckily my friend suggested I fill them up with weight and tissue paper. I tested them by submerging them about 30cm. The first bag I had leaked. The second bag also leaked. I gave up on them.

Anyways ... hopefully, in three years I'll have enough money to get my 1d'ish camera and then I will be unstoppable!

Afaik warranty doesn't cover it because the "sealed" is more about small splashes than real rain or larger amounts of sand ... The only really sealed camera bodies are the 1d series, with everything else it's a gamble.

For my semi-sealed 60d (and probably also the 6d) I feel safe shooting when it's snowing or in very light rain for short amounts of time, but that's about it. But from what I've read non-working buttons work again if it wasn't salt water and the camera was dried to avoid pcb corrosion....

Bummer about the "sealing". Then, maybe they and everyone else shouldn't say that they're "Sealed/weatherproof/weather resistant" at all. Maybe the only weather resistance is that one should resist taking it out on bad weather.

Thank's heaps about your opinion on malfunctioning buttons working if the camera is dried. That gives me a peace of mind. My camera is now enjoying a rice bowl. I'll give it two days before I try again. I'm going to need my rice back!

I have previously tried those wet-bags for DSLRs that I bought a shop called Ryda in Oz. Luckily my friend suggested I fill them up with weight and tissue paper. I tested them by submerging them about 30cm. The first bag I had leaked. The second bag also leaked. I gave up on them.

Anyways ... hopefully, in three years I'll have enough money to get my 1d'ish camera and then I will be unstoppable!

Recently I talked to an employee at a local camera shop and he recommending putting the camera first in a bag with desiccant packets like those found in shoe boxes. Then place that bag without closing the zipper in a larger one filled with rice. His advice was that this keeps the sensor and camera from getting dirty/dusty from the rice. Might be worth a try.

I consider the weather sealing 'insurance' at best. Water is a tough customer, pretty hard to nearly impossible to keep it from going where it wants to go. Eventually I'll get a 1D body and I'll treat that one the same as my 5D body, which is no water.

I've been meaning to get one of the truly waterproof cameras for times when I happen to be in really wet conditions. Canon has a nice one, my brother has one and I've used it. Takes good small sensor pictures.

Bummer about the "sealing". Then, maybe they and everyone else shouldn't say that they're "Sealed/weatherproof/weather resistant" at all.

People like to confuse these therms, and I guess marketing doesn't mind as long as the warranty doesn't cover it - the more expensive bodies do have some or more *sealing* which might make them somewhat weatherproof/resistent (very fuzzy term) - but only up to a point, just as there is no "bulletproof" glass but only "bullet resistant".

Good luck with your camera drying, I hope it works out - if it's some consolation also people with a 5d3 have experienced that their body is not waterproof...

Even Nikon bodies aside from D(x) series isn't as sealed as how much you subjected your 6D. Good luck with your warranty. If you're really on a budget, a Dicapac bag will be enough to seal away your 6D from water and dust at least up to 5-10 meters.

First off, the 8-15L is a sealed lens, and does not require a filter to complete the sealing. Only a few lenses actually have that requirement - the 16-35, 17-40, and 50L (although using a front filter on all sealed lenses that take them is recommended by Chuck Westfall).

There are ANSI standards for 'splash proof' and 'water proof', but Canon doesn't adhere to any standard. I've used my 7D in light rain for brief periods (~30 min) without incident. I've used the 1D X on flume/raft/water-canon rides at amusement parks where it got briefly but intensely wet, and in light-moderate rain for longer periods (2-3 hours) with no incident.